Four Falcons Qualify for NCAA Championships
3/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
INDIANAPOLIS – Four members of the Air Force track and field team qualified to compete at next week's 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas, the selection committee announced on Feb. 28 with the release of its championship field.
Senior Kyle Pater (pole vault), junior Shelley Spires (high jump), sophomore Kathryn Tomczak (pole vault) and junior Jamiel Trimble (200-meter dash) will represent the Falcons in the "Sweet 16" of indoor track and field. The four qualifiers are the second-most in program history to advance to the NCAA Indoor Championships, while Spires and Tomczak marked the first time since Air Force joined Division I that more than one woman has qualified for the indoor meet.
Two of the four Falcons are ranked among the nation's top five in their respective events. Pater, who earned second-team All-America honors at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, is ranked third in the meet's descending order list after posting an Academy-record clearance of 18'6½" at last week's conference championship meet. Spires, who will be making her first appearance at the national meet, is listed fourth in the national standings, after clearing an Academy- and conference-record 6'1½" earlier this winter at the Air Force Invitational.
Trimble, a two-time All-American (indoors in the 200-meter dash, outdoors in the 110-meter hurdles), is ranked 13th in the 200-meter dash after clocking an Academy- and conference-best time of 20.67 to win the Mountain West title last weekend. Tomczak, who is making her first appearance at a national championship event, holds that same placement in the pole vault following an Academy-record clearance of 13'11¾" at the Air Force Team Challenge in early February.
The top 16 athletes and top 12 relay teams in every event advance to the national meet, which will be held at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M next weekend (March 10-11).
